An elevator installation essentially serves for vertical transport of goods or persons. The elevator installation includes for this purpose one or more elevator cars for reception of the goods or persons, which elevator car is movable along a guide track. As a rule the elevator installation is installed in a building and the elevator car transports goods or persons from and to different floors of this building. In a conventional construction the elevator installation is installed in a travel shaft of the building and it includes, apart from the elevator car, support means connecting the elevator car with a counterweight. The elevator car is moved by means of a drive which selectably acts on the support means or directly on the elevator car or the counterweight. The guide track for guidance of the elevator car is usually a guide rail fastened to the building or in the travel shaft. In the case of several elevator cars in one travel shaft each of the elevator cars advantageously has an individual drive system, but the elevator cars advantageously use the same guide track or guide rail. Elevator installations of that kind are equipped with brake systems which can hold the elevator car at a floor stop and/or brake and hold the elevator car in the case of fault. The brake system co-operates with a brake track, which is usually integrated in the guide rail, for the purpose of the braking. Elevator installations of that kind can obviously also be arranged outside the building, wherein then the guide rails can be part of its structure. Conventional safety brake devices are not designed to be able to keep the elevator car in a held position, for example for loading the elevator car, since they can be returned to operation only by a service engineer.
Brake equipment for an elevator car is known from EP 0 648 703, which is arranged in the region of the elevator car and can be used for holding and braking. The brake equipment shown there in that case includes a fluid brake unit which can co-operate with a brake rail, an actuating device which can actuate the brake unit and a connecting means which connects the brake unit with the brake unit in force-active manner. The actuating device is a hydraulic pressure station which is connected with individual brake units by way of hydraulic connecting means and thereby actuates the hydraulic brake units in force-active manner. In this connection “force-active” means that a hydraulic pressure produced in the actuating device actively defines a pressing force, which results in the brake unit, of brake linings against the brake rail. This solution uses hydraulic pressure generators. This is costly and complicated in construction and maintenance. Components of that kind are, in addition, noise-intensive and safety precautions have to be undertaken to limit the effects of leakages.
Currently, car braking equipment is in addition increasingly employed for, for example, holding an elevator car stationary at a floor stop during the loading process or quickly and smoothly correcting faulty behavior of the elevator car.